“Which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?”
The full verse · Luke 12:25 · KJV
with taking ?
Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, teaching His disciples while an innumerable multitude gathered (Luke 12:1, 22)
Asked to
Disciples: "his disciples" (Luke 12:22), followers of Jesus not limited in the text to the twelve, taught while the "innumerable multitude" was still gathered (Luke 12:1); He has told them, "Take no thought for your life" (Luke 12:22), and asks whether worry can add to their stature.
The Scene
Right after the parable of the rich fool, Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat" (Luke 12:16-22).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus wanted His disciples to see that anxious worry does nothing. He had just pointed to the ravens that God feeds (Luke 12:24). Now He asks who can add anything to his own life by worrying about it. Barnes calls this an argument from "extreme weakness and helplessness": with all our care we cannot add even a little. Gill reads "taking thought" as thinking "in an anxious and distressing manner" about food and clothing to keep life going. The question leaves no room for an answer except: nobody.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo one answers, because the answer is plain: no one can. Jesus draws the conclusion Himself in the next breath: "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" (Luke 12:26). He then points them to the lilies, which "toil not" yet are clothed by God (Luke 12:27-28), and tells them, "your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" (Luke 12:30).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe KJV phrase "taking thought" translates merimnaō, which the BibleHub interlinear glosses "being anxious." It is not careful planning but worry.
The word for "stature" is hēlikia. Barnes notes it can mean height, but more often means "age," as in John 9:21 ("he is of age"). If so, Jesus means no one can lengthen his life at all. A cubit was the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, about 22 inches by Barnes' reckoning. Gill likewise says the word "seems rather to regard the age of a man, and the continuance of his life." The ESV follows this sense: "a single hour to his span of life."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question sits between two pictures of God's care: the ravens He feeds (Luke 12:24) and the lilies He clothes (Luke 12:27). Our helplessness is not the end of the argument. The point is that God holds what we cannot hold. Matthew Henry puts it simply: "As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is."
The teaching follows the parable of the rich fool, a man who planned for many years but whose soul was required "this night" (Luke 12:20). Both passages say the same thing from two sides: life is not in our hands to lengthen, so it is foolish to grasp at it and needless to worry over it.
Look Closer
What does Jesus' question show about worry?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You hold the length of my days in Your hand; what am I trying to carry by worry that You are already carrying for me?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- What worry keeps coming back to you, and what has worrying about it actually changed?
- Tell about a time when something you worried over was cared for in a way you could not have arranged yourself.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Worry promises control, but it cannot add a single hour to your life. Jesus does not shame His disciples for their needs. He reminds them who meets those needs: "your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" (Luke 12:30).
This does not mean planning or work is wrong. The lilies still grow (Luke 12:27), and Jesus' warning is against a "doubtful mind" (Luke 12:29). What Jesus removes is the anxious grasping that acts as if everything depends on you. When worry rises, name what you cannot change, and hand it to the One who can.
Scripture's own application: 1 Peter 5:7
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?”
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
“How much more are ye better than the fowls?”
“How much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?”